› Reasonable care under Animal Welfare Act 1985 (SA) s 13(5)
Magistrates
› Appeal to Supreme Court
› Rehearing — deference to factual findings
Quick Take
1On a rehearing appeal under s 42 of the Magistrates Court Act 1991 (SA), an appellate court reviews the evidence but must make due allowance for the trial court's advantage in seeing and hearing witnesses, and should not substitute its own view unless satisfied the trier of fact fell into error.
2Where a trial magistrate's adverse credibility findings are based not on demeanour but on inconsistency between the defendant's evidence and objective evidence, those findings are entitled to appellate respect and will be upheld where a rational basis is articulated.
3Under s 13(2) of the Animal Welfare Act 1985 (SA), the statutory defence of reasonable care under s 13(5) requires more than self-help measures where veterinary evidence establishes that the animal's condition required professional veterinary intervention that was readily available and would have been apparent to a reasonable owner.
